how to care for a ruby blade

[Rawhide]

Just wondering if some of you experts out there know how to care for a ruby blade. I know you don't have to sharpen it, but do you need to strop it? What do you clean it with if residue builds up on it, etc...

Many Thanks

[greg gomersall]

Strop it often and you should be able to clean it with soap and water. I wouldn't be suprised if you couldn't sharpen it with a diamond stone if you had to. Greg

[Rawhide]

Thanks Greg.

I wasn't sure if you should strop it or not. My edge is very clean, no chips or nicks, but it doesn't glide through the leather like I assume it should.

Thanks again , I'll try stropping it and see if that helps.

Marlon

[bruce johnson]

Marlon,

Maybe others have different experiences, but I have not found the ruby blades to glide. I think they drag as much or more than the ceramic blades. Some people like that feel, and don't like a blade that glides like hog on ice. I used to get the ruby blades in the yard sale sets around here quite a bit. Tandy used to have a local store. When they closed, a lot of people lost interest and tool sets showed up in the paper and yard sales. Often I would have to buy the set to get the 4-5 things I wanted. I never found a ruby blade I liked. Even the cheapest steel blade would sharpen up better for me than either the ceramics or the ruby blades. The metal blades just needed more frequent stropping. At that time there was a lady who would collect unwanted tools for donation to prison craft programs. (Since has been shut down in CA, there was an issue with prisoners with sharp objects). I would stick the rubies in the knives that went there. Wish I had them back to sell now. Obviously some people either like the ruby blades as evidenced by what they pay to get them on ebay, or have heard about them and haven't tried one yet. Apparently there was also an issue with the ruby falling off. I got paperwork with some that said Tandy would repair the blade for something like $1 if it fell off.

Edited August 19, 2007 by bruce johnson

[Rawhide]

I have heard that they can come off as well. I have stropped it some as greg mentioned, and found it to glide a good bit smoother, so I imagine it could get better with continued stropping. Thanks for the advice.

Hog on ice, now that's funny.

[whinewine]

And I happen to like the ruby blade that I have & I use it for most of my work. I also have a whole group of swivel knives with various steel blades. What I find is that certain leathers carve better with ruby & certain ones carve better with steel, so I'll use the one that works better in the particular leather I'm carving.

As far as stropping ruby, that is total fiction. Ruby & sapphire (same gem material & composition, just different colors) are the second-hardest natural substances (diamond is the hardest). To think that powdered rust or aluminum oxide can polish nature's second hardest substance is just an impossibility (think about trying to polish your ruby or sapphire ring with jeweler's rouge- it's not gonna happen). Diamond powder in 25000 or 50000 mesh will polish it, definitely on a motorized gem machine,but rust powder on a piece of leather, done by hand with a few strokes, won't.

If it's gotten residue on it, stropping could remove it from the ruby's surface & may make it glide a bit smoother, but it won't polish it. Soap & water would probably work as well.

[Rawhide]

Thanks for the reply whinewine. To comment on the stropping fiction, I beg to differ. One, I feel a difference when I strop my blade. Two, a ruby's main composition is...guess what, aluminum oxide. Ever heard the saying the only thing that can scratch a diamond is another diamond?, Don't you think that aluminum oxide could polish a ruby then? The aluminum oxide that makes up a ruby is called corundum which is naturally clear. Chromium is added to it to make it red. Since it is very hard (9.0 on Mohs scale) it is commonly used as an abrasive, yes even in sand paper. So theoretically you could sharpen it on sand paper (realistically you can't because sand paper is a mixture of elements that reduces its hardness.)

Marlon

[whinewine]

Thanks for the reply whinewine. To comment on the stropping fiction, I beg to differ. One, I feel a difference when I strop my blade. Two, a ruby's main composition is...guess what, aluminum oxide. Ever heard the saying the only thing that can scratch a diamond is another diamond?, Don't you think that aluminum oxide could polish a ruby then? The aluminum oxide that makes up a ruby is called corundum which is naturally clear. Chromium is added to it to make it red. Since it is very hard (9.0 on Mohs scale) it is commonly used as an abrasive, yes even in sand paper. So theoretically you could sharpen it on sand paper (realistically you can't because sand paper is a mixture of elements that reduces its hardness.)

Marlon

On a gem machine, yes, especially with diamond, but by hand on a piece of leather, I'd say no. You'd be stropping for a long, long time. I will try it this afternoon myself, to see if I notice any difference.

[whinewine]

On a gem machine, yes, especially with diamond, but by hand on a piece of leather, I'd say no. You'd be stropping for a long, long time. I will try it this afternoon myself, to see if I notice any difference.

Ok, I tried making swivel knife cuts both without stropping and with stropping. Truly, I felt the difference was so miniscule as to write this off as residue being removed from the surface of the blade. To say that there is a significant difference, one would have to attribute that to the 'placebo effect'.

I just didn't notice a great difference, certainly not a significant one, anyway.

Sorry.

[Rawhide]

No need to be sorry, We're just conversing. I agree with you in stating that it's not a grand difference, but there is one. I also agree that I can get a smoother cut with a hollow ground steel, and a ceramic blade a lot of the times, but depending on the leather chosen, the ruby can out cut them. Different blades for different situations.

I am by no means getting rid of any of my blades, I like them all for their rightful strong suits.

By the way, I did strop mine for a very long time when I first stropped it. Now I only need to strop a few times between sections of a carving.

Have a good one!

[greg gomersall]

Continue to strop it as you use it, if you are cutting deep the metal portion where the tip attaches needs to stay polished as well as it will make contact with the leather on deep cuts. A diamond stone will cut it and also Ellis Barnes sells a diamond paste which is what I use on my strop for my swivel knives. Greg

[Rawhide]

Thanks for the tip, I will definitely have to aquire some of that.